Firms from Vigo acquired two fishing vessels from Gran Sol based in A Coruña: Peixemar Dos and Santamar at auction. Both ships are among the most modern ones in the fleet from A Coruña.

Since December 2011, these trawlers based in Celeiro have been tied in Oza dock in A Coruña, after certain issues between the two partners of the shipyard Pesquera Carpa SA led them to go to court to discern how to distribute the management of the firm’s assets.

As an agreement failed to solve the issue, the Court ordered the auction of the firm’s properties and the two owners purchased a vessel each on 27 June, 2012.

Peixemar Dos started service on 30 January, 2003 and Santamar did so on 3 March of that year.

Both vessels are 38.8 metres in length and have 878 horsepower apart from the latest technological equipment and the best systems for trawling, the newspaper Faro de Vigo reported.

The bidding process and allocation of the ships will be completed in the coming weeks.

"I do not know what it will be done with them but they have been allocated to owners from Vigo that have more vessels and that will surely take the opportunity to renew their fleet," said Jesús Etchevers, President of the Provincial Association of Fishing Vessel Owners from A Coruña (Arpesco), to which the auctioned vessels belonged.

"It is possible to continue their activity in Gran Sol as they have also acquired the fishing rights in these waters or replace an old ship operating in third countries," he added.

The entrepreneur argued that "the main cause of this situation, which forces some owners to consider giving up the fishing activity, is the lack of quotas which Spain has."

In his opinion, it is a problem the Spanish fleet has been experiencing since the moment Spain joined the European Union (EU),"and it does not seem to be easy to be solved with the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy negotiated by Brussels, the EU and the European Parliament."

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